Latest news with #VivaTech
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
AI is more likely to create a generation of ‘yes-men on servers' than any scientific breakthroughs, Hugging Face co-founder says
Hugging Face's co-founder, Thomas Wolf, is pouring cold water on the hopes that current AI systems could revolutionize scientific progress. Speaking to Fortune at VivaTech in Paris, Wolf argued that today's large language models excel at producing plausible answers but lack the creativity to ask original scientific questions. Rather than building the next Einstein, Wolf says we may be creating a generation of digital 'yes-men.' Hugging Face's top scientist, Thomas Wolf, says current AI systems are unlikely to make the scientific discoveries some leading labs are hoping for. Speaking to Fortune at Viva Technology in Paris, the Hugging Face co-founder said that while large language models (LLMs) have shown an impressive ability to find answers to questions, they fall short when trying to ask the right ones—something Wolf sees as the more complex part of true scientific progress. 'In science, asking the question is the hard part, it's not finding the answer,' Wolf said. 'Once the question is asked, often the answer is quite obvious, but the tough part is really asking the question, and models are very bad at asking great questions.' Wolf said he came to the conclusion after reading a widely circulated blog post by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called Machines of Loving Grace. In it, Amodei argues the world is about to see the 21st century 'compressed' into a few years as AI accelerates science drastically. Wolf said he initially found the piece inspiring but started to doubt Amodei's idealistic vision of the future after the second read. 'It was saying AI is going to solve cancer and it's going to solve mental health problems — it's going to even bring peace into the world, but then I read it again and realized there's something that sounds very wrong about it, and I don't believe that,' he said. For Wolf, the problem isn't that AI lacks knowledge but that it lacks the ability to challenge our existing frame of knowledge. AI models are trained to predict likely continuations, for example, the next word in a sentence, and while today's models excel at mimicking human reasoning, they fall short of any real original thinking. 'Models are just trying to predict the most likely thing,' Wolf explained. 'But in almost all big cases of discovery or art, it's not really the most likely art piece you want to see, but it's the most interesting one.' Using the example of the game of Go, a board game that became a milestone in AI history when DeepMind's AlphaGo defeated world champions in 2016, Wolf argued that while mastering the rules of Go is impressive, the bigger challenge lies in inventing such a complex game in the first place. In science, he said, the equivalent of inventing the game is asking these truly original questions. Wolf first suggested this idea in a blog post titled The Einstein AI Model, published earlier this year. In it, he wrote: 'To create an Einstein in a data center, we don't just need a system that knows all the answers, but rather one that can ask questions nobody else has thought of or dared to ask.' He argues that what we have instead are models that behave like 'yes-men on servers'—endlessly agreeable, but unlikely to challenge assumptions or rethink foundational ideas. This story was originally featured on
Zawya
a day ago
- Business
- Zawya
Shaikha Nasser Al Nowais meets with leading French travel and tourism tech companies
H.E. underlines importance of technology in her vision to develop a sustainable and responsible tourism sector Abu Dhabi: H.E. Shaikha Nasser Al Nowais, Secretary-General elect of the United Nations Tourism for the 2026–2029 term, held a series of meetings with representatives of leading French travel and tourism technology companies. The discussions focused on advancing innovation and integrating cutting-edge technologies in the sector. Participants emphasized the critical role of digital solutions in improving service efficiency and strengthening the sector's readiness to adapt to rapid technological shifts. The meetings were held on the sidelines of Her Excellency's participation in VivaTech 2025 in Paris, held under the theme "The New Frontiers of Innovation." The meetings are part of Her Excellency's ongoing efforts to foster dialogue with the private sector in the tourism industry, in preparation for her assumption of office as UN Tourism Secretary-General early next year. Her Excellency said: 'Technology is a key pillar in my vision to develop a sustainable and responsible tourism sector both regionally and globally, given its vital role in creating innovative tourism models based on global best practices. It further improves quality of life while maintaining privacy and offering outstanding tourism experiences to visitors and tourists around the world.' H.E. emphasised the importance of increasing private‑sector investment in digital solutions that support tourism sustainability and building an integrated digital infrastructure that enhances operational efficiencies in tourism. During the discussions, Her Excellency underscored the importance of strengthening partnerships between the UN Tourism and private tourism companies to develop new initiatives and projects that facilitate mobility and communication across countries, and improve tourism destinations, particularly in light of challenges such as climate change and evolving travel and tourism trends.
Business Insider
a day ago
- Business
- Business Insider
LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman says people are underestimating AI's impact on jobs, but it won't be a 'bloodbath'
Reid Hoffman, the venture capitalist who cofounded LinkedIn, said AI will transform jobs, but he rejected the idea that it will result in a "bloodbath" for job seekers. "Yes, I think people are underestimating AI's impact on jobs," Hoffman said on an episode of the Rapid Response podcast, released Tuesday. "But I think inducing panic as a response is serving media announcement purposes," he said, "and not actually, in fact, intelligent industry and economic and career path planning." The podcast's host, Bob Safian, asked Hoffman about comments made by Dario Amodei, CEO of AI firm Anthropic, in May. In an interview with Axios, Amodei warned that AI companies and governments needed to stop "sugarcoating" the potential for mass job losses in white-collar industries like finance, law, and consulting. "We, as the producers of this technology, have a duty and an obligation to be honest about what is coming," Amodei said. He estimated that AI could spike unemployment by up to 20% in the next five years, and may eliminate half of entry-level white-collar jobs within that same period. Hoffman said he had called the Anthropic CEO to discuss it. "'Bloodbath' is a very good way to grab internet headlines, media headlines," Hoffman said. (Axios, not Amodei, used the phrase "white-collar bloodbath.") But, Hoffman added, "bloodbath just implies everything going away." He said he disagreed with this assessment, believing that transformation, not mass elimination, of jobs is a more likely outcome. "Dario is right that over a decade or three, there will be a massive set of job transformation," Hoffman said. But he compared it to the introduction of tools like Microsoft Excel, which were believed by some at the time to mark the end of accountancy roles. "In fact, the accountant job got broader, richer," Hoffman said. He added: "Just because a function's coming that has a replacement area on a certain set of tasks doesn't mean all of this job's going to get replaced." Instead of AI eliminating roles, Hoffman predicted: "We at least have many years, if not a long time, of person-plus-AI doing things." Hoffman isn't the only business leader to question Amodei's AI doomsday prophecy. Speaking at VivaTech in Paris earlier this month, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said he and Amodei "pretty much disagree with almost everything" on AI. "One, he believes that AI is so scary that only they should do it," Huang said. "Two, that AI is so expensive, nobody else should do it." Huang added, "And three, AI is so incredibly powerful that everyone will lose their jobs, which explains why they should be the only company building it."
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
OpenAI is phasing out Scale AI work following startup's Meta deal
OpenAI is phasing out the work it does with data-labeling startup Scale AI , cutting ties with the company days after Meta Platforms Inc. invested billions of dollars in it and hired its founder. Scale accounted for a small fraction of OpenAI's overall data needs, according to an OpenAI spokesperson who confirmed the firm's decision to phase out work with the company. The ChatGPT maker was already in the process of winding down its reliance on Scale before Meta, an OpenAI competitor, took a 49% stake in the firm, the spokesperson said, adding that OpenAI had been seeking other providers for more specialized data needed to support increasingly advanced artificial intelligence models. OpenAI's plans inject new uncertainty into Scale's business in the wake of Meta's unusual deal. Meta is investing $14.3 billion in Scale and has poached the startup's chief executive officer, Alexandr Wang , for a new so-called 'superintelligence' unit, focused on building a more powerful, and hypothetical, form of AI software. Other Scale employees are expected to follow Wang to Meta to work on AI.A Scale AI spokesperson declined to comment. Founded in 2016, Scale signed up prominent customers, including Alphabet Inc. 's Google, Meta and OpenAI, providing them with the data needed to build AI models. However, Meta's deal with Scale raised concerns that the social-media company may gain new visibility into its rivals' AI development efforts. Google plans to cut ties with Scale, Reuters reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. Right after the Meta deal was announced, OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar had signaled that the company intended to keep working with Scale. 'We don't want to ice the ecosystem because acquisitions are going to happen,' Friar said at the VivaTech conference in Paris last week. Over the past six to 12 months, however, OpenAI had determined that Scale was not the best fit for it because the AI developer needed more data expertise than Scale could provide, the OpenAI spokesperson said. OpenAI has shifted to building more advanced AI models that can mimic the process of human reasoning, as well as agent-like models that can carry out tasks with limited input from users. Forbes previously reported OpenAI had been winding down its Scale work for initially focused on working with an army of contractors to do the grunt work of labeling text and images for earlier AI systems. Scale has gradually enlisted better-paid contractors with doctorates, nursing and other advanced degrees to help develop more sophisticated models. Despite those efforts, OpenAI has increasingly relied on other data providers , including newer entrants like Mercor , according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Mercor was previously known for using AI for recruiting tech employees, but now focuses on finding experts to help AI companies develop more advanced models.
Web Release
2 days ago
- Business
- Web Release
Shaikha Al Nowais participates in VivaTech 2025 in Paris, highlights importance of localizing advanced solutions to develop tourism products and destinations
Her Excellency Shaikha Nasser Al Nowais, Secretary-General-elect of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for the 2026–2029 term, participated in VivaTech 2025 exhibition and forum, held under the theme 'New Frontiers of Innovation.' The latest edition of the event saw extensive participation from decision-makers, business leaders, and innovation pioneers from around the world. Her Excellency visited the UAE Pavilion at the exhibition, where she was briefed on the most prominent projects and innovations presented by Emirati small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly those specializing in tourism and related sectors. She praised the digital solutions and services developed by these companies and highlighted their role in offering innovative solutions that serve the community. During her meeting with Emirati entrepreneurs at the exhibition, Her Excellency underscored the importance of localizing advanced technologies and artificial intelligence in the development of hospitality services and tourism destinations, in line with international best practices. She noted that technology has become a key enabler in delivering distinctive tourism experiences, improving service quality, and enhancing the competitiveness of the sector. Her Excellency also toured pavilions of several other international companies operating in the fields of advanced technology, artificial intelligence, and digital solutions. She was apprised of the latest innovations in these fields, which are reshaping the future of digital economy and advancing smart tourism. VivaTech is the largest technology event and startup exhibition in Europe. This year's edition attracted approximately 165,000 visitors, and featured more than 13,500 startups, along with 3,500 exhibitors and 3,200 investors, serving as a unique platform for accelerating innovation, exchanging ideas, and building strategic partnerships.
